Mutation details: This transgene consists of the tetracycline transactivator (a chimeric tTA fusion protein of the Tn10 Tet resistance operon in E.coli and the carboxy-terminal portion of the transactivator protein from herpes simplex virus -VP16) under the control of the cardiac specific mouse alpha myosin heavy chain. Although transgene protein expression is not detected in the heart via Western blot, when transgenics are crossed with Tg(tetop-lacZ)2Mam, uniform and robust expression of lacZ is seen in the hearts, indicating that very low levels of tTA protein are present to induce lacZ expression.
(J:125131)